Abstract
The thermodynamics of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film by terahertz transient spectroscopy were presented. The temperature of metal-insulator phase transition of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film is observed to occur around 260 K, which is almost the same as that of the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition. It indicates that the conductivity of the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film is closely related to the order of magnetic moments in the film. We find the conductivity of the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film can be reproduced with Drude model at low temperature range from 40 K to 200 K, and Drude-Lorentz model at high temperature region from 210 K to 290 K.
The trivalent rare earth element doped perovskite oxides La1-xCaxMnO3 film exhibits rich electrical and magnetic properties. For example, in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 membranes, the balance between metallic and insulating phases can be tuned by the lattice, and extending the range of lattice control would enhance the ability to access other phase
It was reported that the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) film showed Drude conductivity when the temperature was below around 0.7 TC, and the film conductivity was far deviated from the Drude model during the temperature range from 0.7 TC to T
In this paper, the thermodynamics in LCMO film between ferromagnetic metal phase and paramagnetic insulator phase are investigated by the low temperature THz time-domain spectroscopy. The Curie temperature TC is measured to be the same as the metal-insulator transition temperature TMI. The conductivity of the film can be well reproduced with Drude model from 40 K to 200 K, while its conductivity follows the Drude-Lorentz model in high temperature range from 210 K to 290 K. The experimental results are instrumental to comprehend the electromagnetic and photoelectric properties related to phase transition, and have important application in thermoelectric device, contactless reluctance switch and so on.
The LCMO film with thickness of 200 nm (measured with a step profiler) was fabricated on a 0.5-mm, (100)-oriented LaAlO3 single crystal substrate by pulse laser deposition method. The detail process of the film fabrication has been described elsewher

Fig. 1 (a) THz time domain transmission signals of LCMO film on a 0.5-mm LAO substrate at 100 K, 200 K, and 300 K, respectively, (b) THz transmission signals of 0.5-mm LAO substrate at 100 K, 200 K, and 300K, respectively. The green rectangles highlight the echo pulse occurring at the interface of LCMO/LAO (a) and vacuum/LAO (b)
图1 (a) 温度分别为100 K、200 K和300 K时, 0.5-mm LAO衬底上长有LCMO薄膜的THz时域透射信号, (b) 温度分别为100 K、200 K和300 K时, 0.5-mm LAO衬底的THz透射信号。绿色矩形突出显示了LCMO/LAO (a) 和vacuum/LAO (b) 界面处的回波脉冲
Firstly, we focus on the LCMO film conductivity change with temperature.
, | (1) |
here, φ and A represent the THz phase and amplitude difference between LCMO/LAO and LAO substrate, respectively. nsub, d, and Z0 are the refractive index of the LAO substrate, the thickness of the LCMO film, and the free space impedance (with Z0=377 Ω). With the thickness of the LCMO film d=200 nm, we give the real part of complex conductivity of the LCMO film, σr. It is also noted that the real part of complex conductivity changes as a function of temperature shows a turning point around 260 K in

Fig. 2 (a) THz electric field amplitude transmission of LCMO film as a function of temperature at several frequencies, (b) Temperature dependent magnetization of LCMO film, as measured in field cooling condition with the applied magnetic field of 500 Oe, (c) Conductivity (real part) of LCMO film with temperature at several frequencies, (d) dM/dT as a function of temperature for the LCMO film
图2 (a) LCMO薄膜在不同频率下THz电场振幅随温度的变化,(b) 在外加磁场为500 Oe时, LCMO薄膜磁化强度随温度的变化,(c) 不同频率下LCMO薄膜的电导率(实部)随温度的变化,(d) LCMO薄膜dM/dT随温度的变化
Then, let’s focus on the THz pulse second order reflection occurring at the LCMO/LAO film interface.

Fig. 3 (a) The THz echo pulses in time domain at 198 K, 204 K, 210 K, (b) The diagram of terahertz pulses come across sample (La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 /LaAlO3) at different temperature
图3 (a) 温度为198 K、204 K、210 K时La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/LaAlO3的时域THz回波脉冲,(b) 不同温度下太赫兹脉冲通过样品(La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 /LaAlO3)的示意图
To understand the carriers’ thermodynamics of the LCMO film in THz region, we employ Drude-Lorentz model as shown in
, | (2) |
here N, e,
Curie temperature, TC, LCMO film behaves a metallic phase and the Drude model is expected to fit the film conductivity. However, it is found that Drude model can only reproduce the film conductivity at low temperature below 200 K (~0.77 TC). The solid lines in

Fig. 4 The complex conductivity of LCMO film at four selected temperatures (a)40 K, (b)200 K, (c)220 K, and (d)290 K Note: The black and red dots are denoted for real and imaginary part of conductivity, respectively. In (a) and (b), the solid lines are fitting curves with Drude model. In (c) and (d), the solid lines are fitting curves with Drude-Lorentz model. The fitting parameters are presented in Fig. 5
图4 (a)40 K、(b)200 K、(c)220 K,(d)290 K注:黑点和红点分别表示复电导率的实部和虚部;在 (a)和 (b) 中, 实线是Drude模型的拟合曲线;(c) 和 (d) 中, 实线是Drude-Lorentz模型的拟合曲线。拟合参数如图5所示

Fig. 5 The temperature dependence of plasma frequency (ωp) (a), electrons scattering time (τ) (b), and Lorentz resonance frequency (ω0) (c) of the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film in the temperature range from 40 K to 290 K
图5 La0.7Ca0.3MnO3薄膜在40∼290 K温度范围内等离子体频率 (ωp) (a)、电子散射时间 (τ) (b) 和洛伦兹共振频率 (ω0) (c) 与温度的关系
According to Drude-Lorentz model in
While the carrier scattering time remains at very small value at this high temperature region. Finally, as shown in
In summary, we have investigated the temperature-dependent carrier dynamic of a colossal magnetoresistance LCMO film by terahertz transient spectroscopy. The FM-to-PM phase transition temperature TC is almost same with the metal-to-insulator phase transition temperature, i.e., TMI=TC≈260 K. Thus, the FM and PM states are closely related with the metallic and insulating states around TC≈260 K. At FM phase, the electron spin disorder induces the decrease of the carrier scattering time via weakening the double change energy of the film (90∼200 K). Near the phase transition temperature between FM and PM, the rapid decrease of spin order could lead to the decrease in the double exchange energy and density of free carriers in the film. The rapid decrease in double exchange energy leads to the coupling between spin and polaron in the temperature region from 210 K to 270 K. Our work could pave the way to clarify the thermal dynamics of double exchange electrons in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film around the Curie temperature TC. It also improves the analysis of the microscopic mechanism and theory of the film and affords a crucial reference for manganese oxide to be more widely utilized in thermoelectric device, contactless reluctance switch and other devices.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 11674213, 61735010, 11647023, 61625505), Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (grant number 17ZR1411500). The authors were also grateful to Professors P. K. Siwach and Z. X. Cheng for providing high quality sample.
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